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Tularosa girls basketball holds off late Mescalero run for 71-64 win over Chiefs

By Mark Rudi, Sports Editor

Posted:
01/25/2013 01:44:10 AM MST

MESCALERO - Tularosa head girls basketball coach Joe Estrada always says the team is building towards district and the state tournament in everything it does.

And Estrada said the Wildcats' 71-64 win over Mescalero Apache Thursday night can be a great learning experience for the team.

Tularosa (14-5) had a lead around 10 points most of the second half and had to hold off a late comeback by the Chiefs, who had the game down to three with a little over a minute to go. A type of game the Wildcats could experience in the state tournament.

"We knew they (Mescalero) were going to come hard, we talked about all week," Estrada said. "There were three or four moments in that game where we could have folded and we could have given it up, but I'm proud of way we battled back. Great learning experience for us because you get to the postseason and this is what it's like. They're (Tularosa) a young squad, they're a good squad and they're learning every night. I was pleased."

The Wildcats, who are ranked No. 2 in Class 2A by NMPreps.com, had a 65-56 lead with 2:40 left in the game before the Chiefs' Diona Chavez hit a basket and was fouled on the played. Chavez hit the free throw to complete the three-point play and cut Tularosa's lead to six.

Mescalero cut the lead to 65-61 with 2:21 to go after a basket by Rhapsody Gaines, but the Wildcats went back up by six after Kyanne Kowatch hit two free throws.

Heather Enjady hit a 3-pointer to get the Chiefs within a possession of tying the game, but Aviana Garcia's basket put Tularosa up 60-64 with a minute to go.

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Mescalero (7-9) got some more looks for the outside in the final few minutes, but couldn't hit most of them to get the game tied or take the lead.

"We had them down 7-0 (in the first quarter) and in any ballgame, turnovers will hurt you," Chiefs head coach Nate Raynor said. "And we had a bunch of turnovers tonight. That's something we need to work on, but I'm pretty proud of them. Tulie's been blowing teams out of the water and it's like when we played them at their house, we were down by 16 points at halftime and we fought back and took the lead for a while.

"It was a very close loss and the girls played them tough tonight. I'm pretty proud of all of them, they went out and played their hardest."

Tularosa had four in double figures with Kowatch and Garcia both scoring 18 points. Kaitlyn Silva - who hit three key baskets in a row to start the third quarter to give the Wildcats a 10-point lead, finished with 11 points and Kim Turner scored 10 points.

Valerie Mendez brought down 13 rebounds for the Wildcats and Kowatch also had eight assists.

Tularosa was also able to find a lot of open shots from the outside, especially in the second half.

"We did a lot of screens and cut to the basket, which would leave the middle open for us," Silva said about the offense. "We got a lot of points of that."

Enjady finished with 18 to led Mescalero and senior post Ardis Holder added 16 points. Chavez was also in double figures with 15 for the Chiefs.

Mescalero - who's ranked 11th in Class 1A in MaxPreps.com's latest power rankings - shot 59 percent from the floor (27 of 49), but took 25 less shots than Tularosa, who finished at 41 percent from the floor (30 of 74).

The Chiefs still have one more non-district game against Carrizozo before starting District 7-1A play against Capitan on Feb 5. Raynor said you could see the Chiefs, who should be in contention for the district title, peaking in a 70-39 win over Hondo on Tuesday.

"Tonight we played some team ball," Raynor said. "Something we will work on in practice is turnovers and don't panic, just play our game. That's what we're looking at is to improve on that. Coach (Houston) Murphy and I both stress patience. It's not how you start, it's how you finish. They finished good, I'm proud of the way they finished."

Tularosa has completed its non-district schedule and begins District 6-2A play Tuesday at home against Cobre. The Wildcats appear to be the district and also seem to be peaking at the time of year.

"Last week, I was maybe a little worried," Estrada said about heading into district play. "We had three tough games. I don't think we played as we could have in two of those games, but I feel good about tonight. I thought they (Tularosa) toughed up and fought back a number of times. (We) made the plays when they had to."

Contact Mark Rudi at mrudi@alamogordonews.com. Follow him on Twitter @mrudi19

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